"The natural environment is always a shaping force of individual and group psychology and identity - and this force can only be ignored or suppressed at a price," authors Kathleen Wallace and Karla Armbruster argue in Beyond Nature Writing: Expanding the Boundaries of Ecocriticism.   Using the natural world as framework, this half-time, writing and reading intensive program will explore how poetry helps us understand and express our complex relationships with the world around us, including the interplay between the natural world and built environment. Program activities will include field-based writing workshops at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, downtown Olympia, and other locations. We will also participate in community poetry readings in Olympia and Seattle. Other program activities will include seminar, guest speakers, films, and critique workshops. Emphasis will be placed on learning and refining the practice of the craft of poetry, including sound, form, imagery and revision through extensive reading of published works as well as sharing of students' poetry. By the end of the program, students will have written and revised a modest collection of original poetry. This program is suitable for all levels of student poets, from the curious to dabblers to regular practitioners.